July 2007

A large group from Dodger Thoughts is coming to today’s game and we’ve got a few cool things in store for them. I’m fairly certain that anyone that reads this blog also reads Jon Weisman’s site every day, as he does an incredible job of "covering" the Dodgers for someone who isn’t out here every day. I’m sure when he started his blog five years ago today, he didn’t think it would become what it has but it’s very obvious what a big role it plays in many of your lives, which is something he should be proud of…

Meanwhile, I see a lot of chatter every day about who should be in the lineup, but strangely, there’s not a lot of talk about trade winds. It almost feels like the deadline isn’t 10 days away. What do you all think? Do you like the team as it is or would you go out and add something to it. If so, what? (and try to be realistic).

Today’s game is on FOX and thought it’s not on "national" TV, it is on in 118 markets across the country so it’ll be the most watched game in the country.

Meanwhile, here’s a cool note: The Dodgers are donating 400 bags of sunflower seeds to Blue Star Mother’s of America for U.S. troops overseas through our seed supplier, David Seeds. The individual bags of seeds will be placed in care packages for the troops. Blue Star Mothers of America is a 501(c)3 service organization of Mothers who have, or have had, children honorably serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Here’s today’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Martin, C (you can chat with him live on Tuesday at 2 p.m. PT)

Kent, 2B

Loney, 1B

Betemit, 3B

Ethier, RF

Kemp, LF

Penny, P (trying to be the first Dodger since Phil Regan in 1966 to start out 12-1

Somehow I feel like I’ve betrayed the masses by only posting lineups for a few days. I’m hoping to write more tonight during the game (though please don’t think that means there’s a big move coming because as far as I know, there isn’t). And let’s be honest, you’re coming here for the lineup, not my rambling.

If you want to hear straight from Ned, tune into AM 570 at 5 p.m., as he’ll be on with Petros and Money. And there’s info coming about a new program we’re starting with KFWB, so at the very least I’ll write about that tonight.

There’s a lot going on these days, and it’s not just the five-game winning streak. On top of the usual daily duties of our department, today we had a visit to Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, as Derek Lowe and James Loney went over there to spend time with some of the kids. Derek’s hosting the bowling event at the end of the month, with some of the proceeds going to Mattel, so if you want a chance to meet him and a bunch of the other players, you can still purchase a spot or a lane here.

I wasn’t at that community event, as we had previously planned to bring Takashi Saito over to a restaurant on Sunset called Saito Sushi. FSN Prime Ticket filmed the whole thing for a segment on their pregame show that will air on Thursday, so be sure to tune in for that. Every time you get one of the players away from the field, his personality is able to come out a lot and that was certainly the case with Sammy. And in case you missed it, the L.A. Times new beat writer, Dylan Hernandez, wrote a great piece on Saito a few days ago. Dylan is fluent in Japanese, Spanish and English and he’s a great new addition to the paper.

As for Saito, he’s really a pretty funny guy. He’s picked up a little English and I’d have to say that the funniest part of the day wasn’t caught on tape. As we were leaving the restaurant, we saw a homeless man in the parking lot and Saito said, "What’s up, brother?" The guy laughed and said, "You’re a VIP." I guess the TV camera gave it away.

Meanwhile, while we were out around town with these players, there was a luncheon in the Dugout Club for the various people who have seats in the Dugout Club and Suites where Grady Little ate his first-ever Dodger dog, believe it or not.

There was a question about getting personalized jerseys and while I haven’t been able to get an answer yet on the online store, you can call the Top of the Park store at Dodger Stadium and order a Billingsley jersey (or whoever) that way. The number is (323) 224-1334.

Here’s tonight’s lineup:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF

Martin, C

Kent, 2B

Loney, 1B

Nomar, 3B

Ethier, LF

Kemp, RF

Penny, P

The team has fared pretty well against lefties thus far (17-8), the best mark in the NL. And a win tonight would put the Dodgers at a season-high 13 games over .500 and would mark the first time they’ve won five in a row this season.

Also, if you’re at home tonight (not at the game), stay tuned on FSN Prime Ticket after the game for "Randy Wolf, Before the Bigs." He grew up locally, as most of you know, so there should be plenty of interesting references to things from the Valley.

Another Valley guy (and another former Philly), Mike Lieberthal, hit his first big league homer on this date in 1994 and it was against the Dodgers. Incredibly, his teammate at the time and the starting third baseman that day was Mariano Duncan.

And phinally, with the Phillies losing their 10,000th game yesterday, it begs the question of how close the Dodgers are. The answer: Not very. The team has lost 8,573 games since 1890 when it joined the National League.

Also, here’s an answer to some of your questions about spam which came from the guy at MLB who runs the blogs:

"Everyone’s comment at MLBlogs is followed by their email address as we are an open community and people can email each other — unlike other typical blog sites where you can’t contact anyone unless you register there. If the person wants his/her email address to be hidden, s/he must be a subscribed MLBlogger, and then can choose to have a first name only show up (it would be clickable to a URL or email address of that person’s choosing).

We can’t do anything about the spam, sorry…and of course that’s making an assumption that it’s coming from MLBlogs exposure, as it’s a Yahoo! account that can be spammed from anywhere. Six Apart is the No. 1 blog software company and this is their Typepad environment that we are using, at least for now.

Also, this is the first such comment I’ve received in 2-plus years of MLBlogs community, so it’s generally not a concern among users…even though I certainly hate spam as much as anyone."

Got a chance to wander down to the stands to visit with my wife and a friend and saw a great T-shirt down there. The front said "WWLD" and the back said "What Would Lasorda Do?" Pretty funny.

As for what Lasorda is doing today, he is with Don Newcombe and President Bush for a tee-ball game on the White House lawn with youngsters from Los Angeles and Brooklyn. The kids from L.A. usually play at one of the Dodger Dream Fields that was built for them by the Dodgers Dream Foundation and it’s pretty cool to put a piece of two Dodger eras together on the same field, even if it’s a lawn and it’s tee ball.

It’s 10:30 on a Saturday morning, so there’s no better time for a quote from The Breakfast Club. Plus, when I walked into the press box, the Giants’ PR interns were watching the movie, which is what made me think of that line.

Meanwhile, I had breakfast this morning in a diner down the street from our hotel and saw several Dodger fans up here. Also noticed a feint chant last night at AT&T Park of "Let’s Go Dodgers" late in the game. Good to see you all out in full force in the Bay Area, where the team has won nine straight games.

Today’s game is on FOX regionally. Mike Lieberthal will read off the lineups for your entertainment and Rick Honeycutt will be interviewed in game. Here’s the non-Lieberthal version of the lineups:

Furcal, SS

Pierre, CF (three straight multi-hit games and five in last six games)

Safe to say, the kids are playing well these days. And speaking of kids at play, tomorrow, President George W. Bush will host a tee ball game on the White House lawn in honor of Jackie Robinson’s 60th anniversary of breaking the color barrier. The game will host teams from the Inner-City Little League of Brooklyn, NY and the Wrigley Little League of Los Angeles, CA, the two home cities of Robinson’s team, the Dodgers. The Dodgers will be represented by Special Advisor to the Chairman Tommy Lasorda, Director of Community Affairs Don Newcombe and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs, Howard Sunkin. This will be the 17th tee ball game at the White House and it will bring together some of Robinson’s original teammates and other notable baseball icons.

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